Cultural Insights Through Spanish Agriculture

In his book, The Third Plate, Dan Barber reflects on his journey around the world’s agricultural communities. Not only did he discover rich new methods and materials for his cooking, but he also reveals the close existing relationships between landscapes, culture, food, and wealth. In the section titled “Land”, Barber speaks of his time visiting a dehesa, or a form of farmland that began in Spain during the Middle Ages. Here, Barber uncovers the connections between jamón, the natural landscape, and the economic groundings of spanish agriculture. By the end of the chapter, it is clear that the of culture of the dehesa and jámon are both critical in understanding Spanish culture. Spanish people’s ability to use infertile land to produce what

Three poems speak to these connections as seen in Barber’s book. In the poem, “Risa del monte, de las aves lira” by Conde de Villamediana, he speaks to the beautiful simplicity of the natural world, and to how man has ruined this simplicity. In the poem “Tres Cosas”, Baltasar del Alcázar gives us a comical insight into how important jamón is in Spanish cuisine. Finally, in the poem, “Poderoso Caballero es Don Dinero” by Francisco de Quevedo, he emphasizes how money becomes fetishized, in critique of a modernizing Spain. These poems and the values behind them can be seen through Barber’s experience at the dehesa. The poem “Risa del monte, de las aves lira” starts off with a praise of nature’s beauty: “Risa del monte, de las aves lira, pompa del prado, espejo de la aurora, alma de abril, espíritu de Flora por quien la rosa y el jazmín respira; aunque tu curso, en cuantos pasos gira, perlas vierte, esmeraldas atesora, tu claro proceder más me enamora que cuanto en ti naturaleza admira (Villamediana).” Here, Villamediana gives nature human qualities. The mountains laugh, the birds sing, the meadow has pomp, the seasons have a soul, and the flowers breathe. In this poem, nature is seen as a living, breathing part of our world,